Ask HN: Indie business vs. VC funded startup

Hey guys, I've been working with a friend over the past year to get an indie business up and running. I've enjoyed every bit of it. We've pivoted about 4 times and the current idea seems like it has legs.

I also worked with a VC last year, and he's looking to set up a studio. He wants me to come on board and help build one of the companies. All the ideas are extremely exciting and I'm sure I can do something that interests me and has a large impact.

Here's the dilemma: I will run out of savings by the end of next year, I'd love to have a self-sustained indie business, but I'm not sure if we'll get there. The second issue I have with the indie business is that I end up spending a lot of time on things I could delegate to others. I've realized I'm working with very little leverage. I could find a lot of leverage as a VC funded company. I enjoy the strategic parts / growth-related activities more than admin stuff.

The other downside of the indie business is that it's not as exciting, but I do think the excitement waivers off after some point so I don't think I'd take it too seriously. I still enjoy learning different things every day.

The upside though is that I have a lot of freedom, and I enjoy that. I work out of a beach town and it has been amazing.

If I pick the VC funded business, I'll have to move to a dense metropolitan city, where I spend a lot of time in polluted air and traffic.

But the upside of being in a dense urban area is the opportunity for serendipity. I get to meet a lot of smart researchers, entrepreneurs, and people in general.

I'm having a very hard time to decide between the two because both seem like great opportunities, and I know I wouldn't regret either option. I'd like to know from other indie hackers / VC funded entrepreneurs, what they think is a better option?